12 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About WWE Owner Vince McMahon

Vincent Kennedy McMahon is the eccentric chairman and CEO of the WWE. Plenty has been said about him over the years, much of by Vince himself, and repeatedly on television. We wanted to go over a few things that well maybe you weren’t aware of, or maybe thought they were scripted as a part of an on-air storyline.

Here are 10 things you didn’t know about Vince McMahon.

He bought the WWE

Most people assume that Vince is the sole founder of the WWE (formerly the WWF) when in fact he actually bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, whom he didn’t meet until he was 12 years old. At the time it was known as World Wide Wrestling Federation, however Vince convinced his father to rename it the World Wrestling Federation.

He was ECW Champion

People remember the time Vince became the WWE champion by defeating Triple H with the help of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, however most don’t remember that he was also the ECW champion at one point, a title he won by defeating then champion Bobby Lashley in a 3-on-1 handicap match at the PPV ‘Backlash’, a move that many believed signified the demise of the true spirit of ECW.

He originally wanted to be a wrestler

Upon starting out Vince actually wanted to be a wrestler, however his father Vincent J. McMahon was firmly against the idea, saying that promoters should be kept separate from the wrestlers. Clearly, this idea didn’t really stick with Vince, as his Royal Rumble win, numerous matches and holding the WWE and ECW Championships prove, when you own a professional wrestling company you can pretty much do whatever you want.

He started the ‘World Bodybuilding Federation’ — it didn’t go well

In 1990, Vince McMahon founded the World Bodybuilding Federation, a new company to rival the long running International Federation of Bodybuilders. To promote the show Vince had WBF stars appear alongside WWF wrestlers on the popular game show Family Feud. The company failed to make much of an impact and in July of 1992 McMahon announced the disbanding of the WBF, he was quoted as saying “the situation is very bad.”

He started the XFL — it also didn’t go well

We know that a lot of you remember Vince’s ill-fated attempt at starting his own professional football organization, but there are some out there who don’t, and we just couldn’t resist taking a cheap shot or two. The XFL started in 2001 and lasted only one season. A season so lackluster that they had to resort to inviting us inside the cheerleaders locker room to get people to tune in. Now that we think about it, that isn’t such a bad idea. Pay attention NFL!

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

If you happen to be walking down Hollywood Blvd., when you reach address 6801, look down and you will see the name of none other than Vince McMahon. With all of his work in television over the years its easy to see why they felt he was deserving.

He bought his own Colosseum

In 1979, Vince bought the Cape Cod Colosseum, proving that not only did he have a pretty sizable bank account at the time, but he was more than capable of running his own company. During his ownership of the Colosseum he not only promoted professional wrestling events, but also rock concerts and ice hockey games.

‘The Attitude Era’ was about survival

Most fondly remember ‘The Attitude Era’ of professional wrestling for its much more adult story lines, and wrestlers who were less comic book superheroes and more real life personalities. Few know the real reason behind the change. After several years of getting slammed in the television ratings by rival organization WCW, Vince realized that change was needed, and change he did. He shifted the whole company in a much edgy direction and introduced his evil ‘Mr. McMahon’ character. Vince successfully brought the attention and fanbase back to the WWE.

The McMahon ‘Strut’

Mr. McMahon’s trademark ‘strut’ to the ring —an over-exaggerated walk with arms swinging and head bobbing from side to side in a cocky manner – was inspired by one of McMahon’s favorite wrestlers as a child, Dr. Jerry Graham. This was according to Jim Cornette. However, in The Fabulous Moolah’s autobiography, she claims that ‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Rogers was the inspiration for the walk.

Only five people have escaped the “Vince McMahon Kiss My A** Club”

No one wants to be a member of Vince’s infamous club (there are actually six members), especially because initiation always happens to be on national television, but there are actually some WWE superstars that got away before they had to pucker up in front of Vince’s butt – Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, Zach Gowen, Triple H and Marty Jannetty.

Vince wanted to be ‘father’ of his Stephanie McMahon’s baby

During an interview with his daughter Stephanie McMahon Levesque, she revealed that Vince came up with the idea of being revealed as the on-air storyline father of her baby. Stephanie was pregnant in real life and married to Triple H. Could have been worse, she could have given birth to a hand.

Vince was actually a billionaire

Vince would often call himself a billionaire on TV, but most chalked that up to him exaggerating things a little bit for the sake of television. However, it was actually true. Forbes noted Vince’s wealth to be at $1.1 billion dollars in 2001. He has three houses including a $40 million dollar mansion in Connecticut, and a $12 Million dollar Manhattan penthouse. It appears Vince is living easy, and we have to give credit to a man who actually became a self-made billionaire. Especially when it involves running an organization where guys wear tights on a weekly basis.

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